Kamen Rider Black
, (known as ''Ksatria Baja Hitam in Indonesia, Blackman and Black Kamen Rider in Brazil) is a tokusatsu superhero television series. It is the eighth installment in the famous Kamen Rider Series of tokusatsu shows. It is a joint collaboration between Ishinomori Productions and Toei, and aired on the Mainichi Broadcasting System and the Tokyo Broadcasting System from October 4, 1987 to October 9, 1988, with a total of 51 episodes. With its very dramatic storyline and its twist of the Kamen Rider having a tragic relationship with his arch-nemesis, the installment not only became very popular in Japan, but also in many countries where it was aired. The series is often regarded as a TV classic and is considered by many as the most popular Kamen Rider show of the late 80s, as well as the most famous of all Kamen Riders in the Showa Period. Kamen Rider Black RX was a direct sequel to this series. A manga adaptation of the series is entitled . The average ratings of the series was 9.3%. Story After being kidnapped by the cult Gorgom on the night of their 19th birthday, stepbrothers Kohtaro Minami and Nobuhiko Akizuki were submitted to a cyborg surgery with the purpose of becoming the candidates for the next Gorgom Creation King. Both of them are called Century Kings and are destined to best each other in a final battle - whoever wins will become the next Creation King. Kohtaro escaped before getting brainwashed (which is the final step in the surgery), with help from his foster father, and turned against Gorgom. He soon finds out the horrific truth from his stepfather: Gorgom originally killed his true parents and, since both Kohtaro and Nobuhiko were born on the day of a solar eclipse, referred as "Black Sun" and "Shadow Moon". Kohtaro, taking on the name of Kamen Rider Black, was determined to rescue his stepbrother from Gorgom while protecting Japan. However, later in the series, Nobuhiko emerged as Shadow Moon to fight Kohtaro with the survivor becoming the next Creation King. Characters Kamen Riders TV Show Manga-exclusive Concepts *Kamen Rider Black **Kamen Rider 0 *Shadow Moon **Nemesis the God of Death **Dark Shadow Allies *Kyoko Akizuki *Katsumi Kida *Ryusuke Taki *Gorgom Shonen-Tai *Masaru Todo *Yoichi Daimon *Whale Mutant * Villains Gorgom *Creation King *High Priest Darom *Baraom *Bishium *Bilgenia *Soichiro Akizuki *Ryuzaburo Sakata *Koichi Omiya *Hideomi Kuromatsu *Yukari Tsukikage *Shigeru Sugiyama *Gorgom Mutants Episodes Other media Manga # # # # # # # # # Novel # # Video games * :Side-scrolling action game released by Bandai for the on April 15, 1988. Player takes control of Kamen Rider Black, who must defeat numerous Gorgom mutants. The player gets to ride Battle Hopper in addition to controlling Black on foot. *Kamen Rider: Seigi No Keifu'' :Kamen Rider Black appears as the main character of the 1988 storyline in this 3D action game for the . Lead to an old Shocker hideout believing it to be Gorgom, Kohtaro is forced to fight various kaijin and Gelshocker soldiers, only to learn the game's true villain is after the Kingstone inside of him. Eventually, Kamen Rider 1, Kamen Rider V3 and Kamen Rider Agito travel to 1988 to assist him in the game's final battle. Tetsuo Kurata returns to voice the character. Shadow Moon makes a brief cameo as a non-playable character as well. *''Kamen Rider: Climax Fighters'' :Kamen Rider Black appeared as a playable character in the fighting game. He is the only playable Showa Rider in the game, due to the game being released on the 30th anniversary of the TV series in 2017. Cast * : * : ** : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : and Guest actors * : * : * Hayami: * Morita: * Gorgom Henchwoman: * Sugiyama: * : * Buffallo Mutant (Human Form): * Kimie Tadokoro: * Kenichi's Sister: * Saburo Takasugi: * Kuwagata Mutant (Human Form): * : Suit actors * Kamen Rider Black: * Batta Man (1): * Shadow Moon: , * High Priest Darom: * Baraom: * Grand Mutant Darom: * Mara: * Kara: Songs ;Opening theme : * **Lyrics: **Composition: **Arrangement: **Artist: Tetsuo Kurata ;Ending theme : *"Long Long Ago, 20th Century" **Lyrics: Yoko Aki **Composition: Ryudo Uzaki **Arrangement: Eiji Kawamura **Artist: Norio Sakai Other Songs *"Black Action" **Lyrics: Ishinomori Shoutarou **Composition: Watanabe Michiaki **Arranger: Ishida Katsunori **Artist: Igarashi Toshiya *Gekisou! Ni Dai Machine *Goal E Mukatte Hashire *Hoshi No Lullaby *Black Hole Message *Henshin! Rider Black *Ore No Seishun *Let's Fight Rider Notes *''Black'' is so far the only Kamen Rider TV Series that had a sequel. External links *'' '' at *[http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/仮面ライダーBLACK Kamen Rider Black] at Japanese Wikipedia Category:Kamen Rider Series Category:Showa Era